Don't fear this tree

Stand right here
London, ON
March 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This big scary tree stands not far from our house.

It's easy to feel a chill down your spine when you first see it, likely due to the fact that every movie director in history has used the craggy-tree-at-night trick to frame scenes where someone either meets an early end, or makes a stupid decision that ultimately leads to their early end.

Seriously, don't look behind that door. Or go into that house. Or hang around near that tree.

Yet the longer I stand under this particular tree, the more it occurs to me that its dark reputation may be somewhat unearned, even unfair.

It's just a tree, after all, and it's very much alive. Those empty branches won't be empty for long. I'm pretty sure the scene of lush leaves speaking hushed tones in the light breeze under a bright summer sky tells a different story than the one we see, hear, and feel here.

Same tree. Different time. Radically different experience.

We're all going through some darkness now. We're all looking up at the big scary tree. And we're all probably more than a little frightened.

But that tree won't be like this forever. Soon enough the cycle will turn, the sky will brighten, howling winds will turn to gentle breezes, the air will turn warm, the canopy will return and cast a friendly shade.

Which does nothing to ease our fears on this foreboding night, but still serves as a reminder that nothing is permanent, and there is always light ahead.

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